ASX opens higher as tech stocks track Nasdaq rally
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More news: Australian shares opened marginally higher as tech stocks tracked a rally on the Nasdaq overnight, while healthcare and mining companies led losses.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 12.9 points, or 0.15%, to 8,894 at 10:30am AEDT. Six of the 11 sectoral indices were in negative territory.
Technology (+1.7%) was the best performing sector as accounting software company Xero (+1.4%) climbed. Healthcare (-1.7%) was the worst performing, with biotech group CSL losing 1.1%.
Construction group Fletcher Building (+2.8%) was one of the top performers after announcing the completion of the delayed New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland. Gambling company Light & Wonder added 1.6% after delisting from the Nasdaq.
Australian shares to fall as Amazon-OpenAI deal spurs Wall Street AI rally
The news: Australian shares are poised to edge lower at the open after a mixed session on Wall Street, where Amazon's blockbuster supply deal with OpenAI drove bullish sentiment in AI-related stocks.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 2 points to 8,881
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.46%, S&P 500 up 0.21% and Nasdaq up 0.50%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.14%, DAX up 0.73% and FTSE 100 down 0.16%
- Spot gold: up 0.13% to USD4,010 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.11% to USD64.84/bbl and US WTI up 0.05% to USD61.01/bbl
- AUD: down 0.11% at 65.41 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 3.50% to USD106,741.
The context: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced overnight, as tech giants Amazon (+4.3%) and Nvidia (+2.6%) led a rally in AI-related stocks.
The bounce came after Amazon's cloud unit Amazon Web Services agreed a USD38 billion ($58.21 billion) deal to supply OpenAI with access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia graphics processing units as part of a seven-year arrangement.
Nvidia was also boosted after US President Donald Trump said the chipmaker's most advanced microchips will be reserved for US companies. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index ended 0.8% higher.
The rally helped offset losses in healthcare heavyweights UnitedHealth (-3%) and Merck (-3.1%), which pushed the Dow into the red.
In the local market, investors will monitor the latest interest rate decision by the Reserve Bank, expected at 2:30pm AEDT. The central bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold after a sharper-than-expected inflation rise in September.
